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00:00Hello, I'm Roza. I'm 15 years old. I'm a chess player from Abu Dhabi. I've been playing chess
00:11for 11 years as you said. I study. I'm still a student. I'm in 10th grade. You are playing chess
00:17and how did you get into chess? What made you love the sport? Well, actually that's a very
00:23interesting question because I don't remember anyone teaching me chess or no one from our
00:28family actually plays chess. We just had a chess board at home and I used to play all the time
00:33with my siblings, my mom, my dad. They were the only people who I could play chess with.
00:38But since my sisters had their own, you know, they had their own hobbies, they used to go to their
00:44own club, I couldn't play with anyone. So I used to beg my mom, please take me to a chess club,
00:49please take me to a chess club. And she took me to a chess club. Although, you know, unfortunately,
00:56they didn't really want to accept me because the minimum age back then was six years old.
01:01But my first coach, Captain Hisham Al-Arga, he's a Syrian, and he was like, let me give her a chance.
01:10And he started playing with me. And the second I moved this piece, it's called the night,
01:15he immediately accepted me to the chess club. Because usually kids take weeks to learn how to
01:21move the specific piece called the night. And from there, my journey began.
01:26Just your journey, the final journey about your, how you became the women grandmaster in the last
01:31one year, maybe. So when, when did you think that you would achieve the target of becoming the
01:36grandmaster, women grandmaster? And then how much of it was, you know, like putting pressure on you?
01:42And how did you feel? If you can relate to that journey, please.
01:46I mean, of course, it's, it was never easy for me, because I had to sacrifice a lot. And as a kid,
01:53there was, there was so much pressure on me as a five-year-old. Chess club was expecting a lot,
01:59school, mom, family, and management. And there was a lot of pressure on me, it was never easy.
02:05But now I got the hang of it. You know, I, I started working hard. And honestly, I was expecting
02:14to get the women grandmaster actually at 15. When I was 12 years old, you know, I've heard a lot
02:20from people that, you know, who used to play with me, they were like, this kid is going to be a
02:25grandmaster at 15 maximum. And, you know, here I am today, I'm really happy. And of course,
02:31I worked a lot. I work a lot at home at the chess club, just to achieve this title. And now
02:38that I've achieved it, I have a lot of things to achieve in my chess journey.
02:43You were sure that by 15, you would achieve that grandmaster title, women grandmaster title.
02:49So what made you feel that, like some particular game or particular tournament or particular success,
02:57or how, how did you get that confidence?
02:59I mean, I used to hear it a lot from people from like grandmasters, international masters
03:04used to play with me. But I don't, I mean, I knew that I always had the potential in me.
03:12I just had to like train hard, work hard and, you know, change my mindset that I can, you
03:18know, I can achieve this and I can get the woman grandmaster. And before actually the Arab
03:24championship, that was back in October, back in November, when I heard that winning first
03:32place immediately, the grand, the grand student woman grandmaster, I was like, I'm taking it.
03:37I'm taking it. It's like, no, I'm sorry, I have to take it.
03:41So what, how, how difficult was it once you understand that, okay, title, winning the title
03:48gives you that, and you knew that before the tournament, right? So how much of it was putting
03:53pressure on you? Because winning an opponent is easier, but this is your winning against
03:57two people, within yourself and against. So how much of it was putting pressure on you?
04:00I mean, I actually knew the first day of the tournament. Uh, we were, uh, we were playing,
04:05uh, a blitz. It was the blitz Arab championship and I took second place. Although I was playing
04:11for first, something went wrong and I took second. And I heard that you have to win, like, uh,
04:17winning, uh, the first place in the classical tournament gives you the WGM. I was a bit stressed
04:23to be honest, but I was very confident. I knew that I was in a good shape. Uh, and I knew
04:29that I just had a very good feeling about it. And what made me wanna win it even more is
04:35that a couple of days later, during the classical championship, there was the Arab, uh, rapid
04:41championship and I took third place. I was still playing for second. So in blitz, I took
04:47second place and in the rapid, I took third place. And here I just made up my mind. I was
04:52like, no way I'm not taking first. I was, I was like, you know, working so hard. I was
04:58training so hard to win the first place in the classical because I wasn't able to get
05:03first in blitz or rapid. Alhamdulillah, I was able to finish it off with eight and a half
05:08points out of nine. I gained the rating and I also was qualified to the World Cup. That's
05:14July. You are the first from the UAE to achieve this. Since you have taken the path now, how important
05:21is for the others to follow you? And what do you think will be the future of women's chess in
05:26way? Oh, well, to be honest, when I first started playing chess, say, 11 years ago,
05:31there weren't a lot of people in our chess club, just me, a couple of girls, a couple
05:35of boys. But now when I go to the chess club, I see a lot of kids, uh, you know, excited to
05:40go to training, you know, kids who look up to me, you know, uh, which makes me really happy.
05:46It makes me really proud of myself. And, uh, I've already seen a lot of new talents in, uh,
05:51UAE chess, especially in girls. And, you know, I'm always there to be the role model to give
05:58them advices, to give them tips and, uh, to support them. How do you view when you face
06:03a man? And, uh, have you done that before? Have you played against a man? And when you
06:09win it, what kind of, uh, that gives you, that victory gives you? Is there anything special
06:14or is there any, is there normal? Uh, well, to be honest, uh, in a tournament, uh, when
06:19I want to get experience, I usually play with the men because, uh, for some reason they're
06:25known to be stronger. So, for example, in, in an Asian championship, when I just want
06:31to go and get experience, I play in the boys section. Quite recently, I was playing a tournament
06:35in Kuwait. Uh, I was, uh, competing against, uh, uh, uh, Bilal Bilhassan. He's a Algerian,
06:42uh, Grandmaster. He's also the winner of Arab Championship. I was able to make a draw with
06:48him. After five hours, I think it was a very long and interesting game. And it was the first
06:54time I play with a Grandmaster and also the first time I draw with a Grandmaster. I think,
06:59uh, it's one of my, uh, favorite achievements this year. I'm very, I'm very excited to play.
07:04Since, uh, a lot of big players like Magnus Carlsen, Gukash, uh, Nakamura, these top players
07:11are going to be participating there. I can't wait to, you know, see them and, uh, you know,
07:17learn from them, get some experience. And, uh, of course, my main goal, you know, I want
07:22to have fun. I want to enjoy my games. I want to gain experience and, uh, hopefully gain some
07:28rating points as well. All the very best. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you.
07:33Thank you so much. Thank you so much.